Monthly Archives: December 2009

Make Your Own Simple Handbound Journal: February 7

26 December 2009

office_supply_books
Raid Your Office Supplies! Make Your Own Simple Handbound Journal
Time: Sunday, February 7, 2010
9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (1/2 hour break for lunch, bring a bag lunch if desired)
Where: Frank Bette Center for the Arts
1601 Paru Street, (at Lincoln) Alameda, CA 94501
Fee: $45 members, $60 non-members. Plus $10 materials fee
(pay materials fee at workshop)
Click here to sign up via PayPal at the Frank Bette site.

In this class for beginners, you’ll create your own 3-section “pamphlet stitch” journal from commonly available office supplies including file folders, envelopes and paper clips. You’ll sew the sections, attach eyelets to the spine and secure your book with an elastic band or a button and string. You’ll then add elements to the cover and inside to make it your own. Take home your own unique handbound journal and a one-section mini-postcard book.

What to Bring: ruler, scissors, glue stick, pencil, a cutting mat and a bone folder. Also, bring a 4″ x 6″ piece of cardstock (or postcard) for a cover for a mini-book. Optional: Bring any elements you’d like to include in your book to personalize it. Some examples are: canceled stamps, rubber stamps, stickers, paper clips, ribbon, old receipts, shopping list, scraps of paper and handwritten notes. Limit these things to 5 1/2″ high. White inside pages and some ephemera will be provided.

About the instructor: Leah Virsik enjoys making books and painting. She has a passion for paper and bookbinding and daydreams about art when she’s not actually making it. She creates books out of new and repurposed materials and works with paper, fabric, plastic, metal, acrylic and collage. Learn more about her and her work by visiting www.leahvirsik.com.

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Artful Mail Workshop

15 December 2009

Make Your Own Artful Mail
In this workshop, you’ll collage, paint and sew your own postcards, make your own various-sized handmade envelopes and learn how to make a button and string closure for an envelope with eyelets and brads. The pieces you’ll create can potentially be mailed, framed, hung or put into a book at a later date. The possibilities are endless!

When: Sunday, February 28, 2010 from 11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Bring a bag lunch, we’ll break for a half hour to eat.

Where: Frisbie Street Art Studio, 204 Frisbie St., Oakland, CA 94611 (Click address for google map) Frisbie St. is an alternative art space in Oakland, CA for artists to exhibit their work and for the community to gather to enjoy and create art together.

Cost: $55 (includes $10 for supplies) Reserve your spot by sending a check to Leah Virsik, 3934 Madrone Avenue, Oakland, CA 94619 or online via PayPal to leah@leahvirsik.com. Payment is processed as it is received. You will receive an email confirming registration. You can cancel up to a week prior with a refund of fees paid, less a $10 cancellation fee. Sorry, no refunds on cancellations with less than one week notice. If the class is sold out or canceled, your payment will be returned.

What to Bring: ruler, scissors, pencil, bone folder, glue stick and/or double-sided tape, eraser (I like Staedtler Mars Plastic)

Optional things to bring: a favorite envelope size to use as a template, punch, awl, cutting mat, fabric scraps, yarn, sewing machine, thread, favorite art supplies, paper for envelopes and collage: good ideas are scrapbook paper, wallpaper, junk mail, maps, large book pages, patterned paper, magazines, etc.

What will be provided: envelope templates from A7 to itty bitty, crayons, watercolors, brushes, glue, watercolor paper for postcards, a sewing machine or two, punches, fabric scraps, paper for envelopes, glue stick, double-sided tape, magazines, spray glue for thin papers, needles for sewing

Questions: Email Leah Virsik or call 510-418-9383

About the instructor: Leah Virsik enjoys making books and painting. She has a passion for paper and bookbinding and daydreams about art when she’s not actually making it. She creates books out of new and repurposed materials and works with paper, fabric, plastic, metal, acrylic and collage. Learn more about her and her work by visiting www.leahvirsik.com.

Workshop Size: Limited to 7 people

Parking: There is street parking available, please allow ample time before your class to find a parking space.

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On Making It

10 December 2009

Purple Scrap Fabric Booklet, mixed-media 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 1/2″ ©2009 Leah Virsik.

I’ve been having some resistance to writing… this is what I started writing last week:

I’m working on updating my website. I’ve decided to use the Satorii theme. I’m hoping to make some minor changes with it. I think actually developing my own theme would be more work than I’d like to do at this point but I’m excited about the work I’m doing now.

Egmont Van Dyck asked me to speak at the East Bay Artists Guild next year. Totally flattering! The same day Alyson B. Stanfield asked if she could could feature my art in her blog and someone called me about my class. I had to stop and think and realize that I’ve changed. I’ve created this world of creating art and teaching and it feels really amazing, like I’ve “made it”. I’m wanting to say that so when I look at other people “who’ve made it” I can be reminded that it’s a cycle, a process, a journey. It’s about “making it” everyday. Those wins along the way are really important to acknowledge.

I got a subscription to Uppercase, something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile but when it came down to it I bought it because Geninne Zlatkis’ studio is featured. Very inspiring! ReadyMade magazine also came and I enjoyed the Denyse Schmidt article and her patchwork quilting. Oh, and her envelopes! I came home last night and made an envelope template inspired by this and this. I found a book on the Renaissance with great images that I’ve been making into envelopes and Tom brought me home some Japanese wrapping paper. Too fun! Cutting out paper is very satisfying!

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  • Artist statement

    I’m hungry to learn and it’s through my process of creating that I’m ultimately satisfied. I’m curious about different materials and take on the challenge to incorporate what I’m most drawn to into my work. I’m intrigued to discover the resulting patterns and repetition. As I create, I explore my inner landscape. I’m attempting to uncover a stifled sound. It’s my challenge to express this internal voice through my art and ultimately, boldly, out loud.

    My quest to connect my voice with my work has led me to reexamine my personal history. The threads in my bookbinding and in my collage are entwined in my familial roots. Growing up, I remember a quilt frame my dad made, taking up our entire living room. His grandmother taught him to quilt using scraps of clothing. Years later, I began a quilt when a friend was teaching a class on patchwork. To my surprise, cutting up fabric and piecing it back together reminded me of my work with paper collage.

    As a child I would sew with my mom and what I most remember is the guilt I’d feel as I jammed up her machine. Now, when the threads and material bunch up they become useful fodder for my work. In some ways the threads act as a binding element, as in my books, and in other ways they are a reflection of my internal processes.